Creative Homemaker

I'm here, I'm alive, I'm just swamped! As I have said before, I volunteer at the food bank in our little town. Yesterday, Larry, the manager, got in several pallets of tomatoes, loaded with boxes of beautiful red fruits needing something done to them at once. So although canning tomatoes wasn't on my list this year, (I still have about 30 quarts from last year,) I did tell myself that anything that came my way free, I would put up. I spent too much last year buying fruit to can, so my goal this year was "nothing purchased." Well, 100 pounds of free tomatoes is nothing to turn your back on. So I brought home 5-20 pound boxes. Then near the end of the food bank time, (we're open from 1pm to 4pm) someone brought in 6 "banana boxes" of pears from trees on their property. Unfortunately, these pears wouldn't last a week until the next food bank day, so they needed to go out as well. Larry gave me two boxes. Larry is generous to a fault. He will oft...

That's the sound of my own horn!! Happy Birthday to me! Happy Birthday to me! Happy Birthday to me-ee! Happy Birthday to me! Yes, 41 years ago, it was a red letter day in my family's lives. Their blue eyed, blond haired little adorable baby sister was born. I was the cutest thing they had ever seen and spoiled me accordingly. Just see for yourselves. I always speak the truth.

I took this picture yesterday of my new roses. It's a Jackson & Perkins variety called Rock and Roll. I love the red and white variegated petals. They remind me of a peppermint geranium I had as a young girl. I try and make the best of the crummy ground in which I plant my garden. And I hate it when those around me don't seem to care about their yards. Yesterday I kindly asked the neighbor tween-age girls who were hanging out at the end of the driveway if they would please pick up the trash they left lying around the yard. I even provided them with the garbage can. Then I asked them to not hang out at the community mailbox so that the neighbors could easily come and get their mail. And now this is the thanks I get. Someone yanked all the blossoms off my roses. Dear Neighbor Girl, I hope the thorns poked your naughty little fingers.

Edited to add one more "Nothing" to the list... Frugality is something I think a lot about. I don't always get around to writing about it, but it is on my mind constantly. Last year my sister went through a great personal challenge, to do without for thirty days. It was an economic challenge to be more frugal, to take a look at what she spent her money on and try to cut back considerably. I decided to take this challenge I just discovered at OwlHaven.net . I have read her blog before, but recently been redirected here again. She is a great writer and has much to say about being frugal, living cheap, making do or doing without. And her life is not easy, she is a Homeschooling Mom to 10 kids, 6 of them adopted from Korea and Ethiopia. She often compares her life to those of the families and countries from where she adopted her children. Things like the amount of clothes in her closet compared to the "outfits" an Ethiopian child has, the vehicle she drives, or kitc...